Batoroi (Gallic Swordsmen)
Batoroi are swordsmen who assault their opponents with javelins before launching into a rout inducing charge. Description (Bah-tor-oy - "Combatants") Seize the day, take to the field, for glory and fame, these are the words which many a Batoroi utters to himself before battle. It is these men, these sword wielding warriors, who blades bite hard into the shields of foes, who lead from the front, it is these men who crossed the mountains into Italia, who took fire and steel to the temples of the Hellenes, it is these men who have struck terror into the hearts of lesser folk. Like the crest of wave smashing against the cliffs they lead their kin from the front, the terrifying surge intended to break the spirit and lines of the enemy. Historically the longswords of the Keltoi have been one of the most studied and researched aspects of the La Tène phase of the European Iron Age. Their development can be traced back to the bronze and iron longswords of the earlier Hallstatt phase of the Iron Age. In the initial stages of the La Tène Iron Age, La Tène A, such swords show quite a variety in length, although all share the characteristic of possessing blades which taper to a point with a diamond shaped cross section. During the early stages of La Tène B this pattern continues, although the taper of the blade becomes less pronounced. It is during the latter phases of La Tène B and with the start of the La Tène C phase that there is a very noticeable change in the shape of the swords, with the blades becoming increasingly long, rounded at the end and oval, rather than diamond, in cross section. The result of this was that longswords of this period transformed from being slashing and stabbing weapons, as they had been in earlier phases of the La Tène Iron Age, to being weapons suited overwhelmingly to slashing attacks. This change in blade shape is traditionally ascribed to the increased interaction of Keltoi peoples with the heavily armoured armies of the Mediterranean states, as well as a rise in the importance of cavalry in Gallic armies at this time. However this does not preclude the possibility that there were social reasons as well as military ones which spurred the development of longswords. This elongation and rounding of the longswords continued until the final phase of the Iron Age, La Tène D, with some examples, such as those from the 1st century BC Netherlands, attaining gigantic sizes. That these were effective and sought after weapons is attested to by the fact that La Tène longswords occur in a wide variety of locations including southern Britain, the Netherlands, Iberia, northern Italy and Poland. Evidence from Iberia also demonstrates that some Romani cavalrymen chose to use such longswords during the Punic wars. This evolution of swords occurred in parallel with the development of scabbards. The bronze scabbards of the La Tène A and earlier La Tène B phase are some of the most visually impressive pieces of metalwork to have been produced, with intricate designs which run the whole length of the scabbard. Examples such as Hochscheid scabbard, with its incised S shaped curves, attest to the ability of bronze smiths in this period. Scabbards which date to this period are fitted with bronze chapes to their end. These chapes tend to have two to three globular mouldings in them and curve around the tip of the scabbard in a droplet shape. As well as being visually attractive such chapes also protected the wearer from being stabbed in the leg. As the blades of swords became more rounded, so too did the shape of the scabbards change with the chapes becoming simpler in form, whilst decoration was increasingly restricted to the top of the scabbard over the course of the 4th century BC. During the 3rd century BC new styles were applied to scabbards, with examples of this development being found as far apart as Cernon-sur-Coole in Gaul and Batina in modern day Croatia. This new style, termed the "Hungarian Sword Style" made increasing use of asymmetrical shapes, at the expense of the earlier symmetrical patterns, whilst the S shaped curves of earlier phases, although still employed, were subsumed within more intricate patterns. During the final stages of the Iron Age, La Tène C and D, iron scabbards became increasingly common. The bronze chapes of earlier stages of the La Tène Iron Age all but vanished at this point, becoming little more than frames around the lower parts of the scabbard. Decoration too became rare on later scabbards, and where it does occur, such as examples from Amerden Lock in Britain, or Badenheim in Germany, it is restricted to the top of the scabbard or occurs in very small amounts at lower points. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Aedui Category:Arverni